The species of Eupeodes show an unusual amount of intraspecific variation in color of head, legs, abdomen, and body pile; in some and perhaps in all species, these variations seem to result from differences in temperature during the pupal stage (Dusek and Laska 1974). Eupeodes (Metasyrphus) has face entirely yellow or with brown to black medial vitta; metasternum pilose; vein R4+5 nearly straight; and male genitalia small, scarcely apparent from above.

Very common Nearctic species, which ranges from British Columbia to Quebec, south to Mexico. It was introduced in Hawaii but it is not established (Thompson 2010).

Body length: 7.0-11.0 mm (Vockeroth 1992).

Eupeodes (Metasyrphus) americanus (Wiedemann, 1830).

Wiedemann, C.R.W. (1830) Aussereuropaische zweiflugelige Insekten. Zweiter Theil. Schulz, Hamm. xii + 684 pp., 5 pls. [1830.09.22]

Vockeroth (1986) synonymized Metasyrphus with Eupeodes on the bases of similarity of male genitalia, wing microtrichia and almost indistinguishable females. Before, he included Lapposyrphus as a subgenus of Metasyrphus (Vockeroth 1969). Three subgenera are currently recognized in Eupeodes: Eupeodes sensu stricto, Metasyrphus and Macrosyrphus.

Vockeroth (1986) made a new combination for E. americanus, Eupeodes (Eupeodes) americanus. Thompson (2010) placed americanus in the subgenus Metasyrphus.

Synonyms:

Syrphus wiedemanni Johnson, 1919: 32.

Posthosyrphus flavipes Enderlein, 1938: 205.

Syrphus americanus Wiedemann, 1830: 129.

Syrphus medius Jones, 1917: 224.

Syrphus canadensis Curran, 1926: 172.

Syrphus lebanoensis Fluke, 1930: 139.

Adapted from Vockeroth (1992).

MALE.

Head: Frons dull yellow, usually with pair of small semicircular pale to dark brown maculae above antennae. Face yellow; with narrow brown medial vitta extending well above tubercle; lower facial margin yellow; gena yellow anteriorly, blackish posteriorly. Eye bare. Dorsal postocular orbit moderately narrow.

Thorax: Scutum and pleura with yellow pile. Scutum shining black, rarely slightly yellow pruinose laterally. Scutellum dull yellow, translucent, narrowly opaque posteriorly in some specimens, usually pale yellow pilose, rarely some black pili on disc. Ventral scutellar fringe complete, moderately dense. Pleura black; anterior anepisternum, meron, and metaepisternum bare. Metasternum pilose. Wing moderately bare; cells CuP, BM, R and R1 bare basally, cell BM on more than basal 1/2; 2nd costal cell bare on basal 1/4 or less; alula bare on most of anterior one-third. Legs: Pro- and mesofemora black on basal four-fifths; metatibia with brownish ring at mid length in some specimens; metatarsus brownish; legs otherwise yellow.

Abdomen: oval, usually nearly flat above, with strong margin from near middle of tergum 2 to apex of tergum 5. Tergum 2 with pair of large yellow maculae strongly narrowed medially, almost reaching margins laterally in some specimens; terga 3 and 4 each with broad yellow fascia with anterior margin nearly straight and posterior margin either nearly straight or broadly and shallowly emarginate medially; fasciae not extending to lateral margins; tergum 4 with posterior margin broadly yellow; tergum 5 yellow with black fascia usually extending to narrow black lateral margins. Sterna yellow, 1-4 each with black fascia covering at most half sternum. Surstylus elongate, irregular in outline, in dorsal view appearing slightly twisted, in lateral view with apex slightly enlarged; epandrium long, slender, with membrane-filled emargination on ventrolateral margin; hypandrium moderately rugose laterally, with apicolateral angles rounded or nearly so, without apical projections.

FEMALE.

Not distinguishable from those of E. fumipennis and E. pomus.

Holotype for Syrphus medius Jones
Catalog Number: USNM
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Entomology
Year Collected: 1911
Locality: Colo, Colorado, United States

Eupeodes americanus Wiedemann: Syrphidae, Diptera
(observations are from Robertson, Graenicher, Larson & Barrett, Anderson & Hill, Schemske et al., and Conger)

Anacardiaceae: Rhus aromatica [pist sn fq] (Rb), Rhus glabra [stam sn] (Rb); Annonaceae: Asimina triloba sn (Rb); Apiaceae: Chaerophyllum procumbens sn (Rb), Cryptotaenia canadensis sn (Rb), Erigenia bulbosa sn (Rb), Heracleum maximum sn (Rb), Perideridia americana sn (Rb), Taenidia integerrima sn (Rb); Asteraceae: Achillea millefolium sn/fp (Rb, Gr), Antennaria neglecta [unsp sn/fp] (Gr), Arctium lappa sn/fp (Gr), Aster ericoides sn (Rb), Aster lanceolatus sn/fp (Rb, Gr), Aster lateriflorus sn (Rb), Aster macrophyllus sn/fp (Gr), Aster novae-angliae fp np (Rb), Aster pilosus sn fq (Rb), Aster salicifolius fp (Rb), Bidens aristosa fp np (Rb), Boltonia asterioides sn fp (Rb), Cirsium arvense sn/fp (Gr), Erigeron annuus sn/fp (Gr), Erigeron philadelphicus sn/fp (Gr), Helianthus grosseserratus sn (Rb), Leucanthemum vulgare sn/fp (Gr), Rudbeckia hirta sn/fp (Gr), Solidago canadensis sn (Rb), Solidago juncea sn/fp (Gr), Solidago nemoralis sn fp (Rb), Solidago ulmifolia sn (Rb); Brassicaceae: Arabis shortii fp (Rb), Rorippa teres sn (Rb); Caprifoliaceae: Sambucus canadensis fp (Rb), Symphoricarpos occidentalis sn/fp (Gr); Caryophyllaceae: Stellaria media sn (Rb); Celastraceae: Euonymus atropurpureus sn/fp (Gr); Commelinaceae: Tradescantia virginiana fp np (Rb); Cornaceae: Cornus racemosa sn (Rb); Cucurbitaceae: Echinocystis lobata sn (Rb); Ebenaceae: Diospyros virginiana [stam fp np] (Rb); Fabaceae: Melilotus alba sn (Rb); Grossulariaceae: Ribes cynosbati sn/fp (Gr), Ribes missouriense fp np (Rb); Hamamelidaceae: Hamamelis virginiana sn/fp (Gr, AH); Hydrangeaceae: Hydrangea arborescens sn fp (Rb); Lamiaceae: Teucrium canadense sn/fp (Cng); Lauraceae: Sassafras albidum sn (Rb); Liliaceae: Allium canadense sn/fp (Gr), Tofieldia glutinosa sn/fp (Gr); Melastomataceae: Rhexia virginica fsp np (LBt); Onagraceae: Gaura biennis fp np (Rb), Oenothera pilosella fp np (Rb); Papaveraceae: Sanguinaria canadensis fp (Rb, Gr, Shm); Parnassiaceae: Parnassia glauca sn/fp (Gr); Polemoniaceae: Phlox glaberrima fp np (Rb); Polygonaceae: Persicaria pensylvanica sn fq (Rb); Portulacaceae: Claytonia virginica sn fq (Rb, Shm); Ranunculaceae: Enemion biternatum fp (Rb, Shm), Hepatica acutiloba fp (Rb), Ranunculus fascicularis sn (Rb), Ranunculus septentrionalis sn (Rb); Rhamnaceae: Ceanothus americanus sn (Rb), Rhamnus lanceolata sn (Rb); Rosaceae: Amelanchier arborea sn fq (Rb), Crataegus mollis sn (Rb), Prunus americana sn (Rb), Rosa carolina fp np (Rb), Rosa setigera fp fq np (Rb); Rutaceae: Zanthoxylum americanum [pist sn] (Rb); Salicaceae: Salix amygdaloides [pist sn] (Rb), Salix discolor [unsp sn/fp] (Gr), Salix humilis [stam sn] [pist sn] (Rb), Salix interior [stam sn] (Rb), Salix nigra [stam sn] (Rb), Salix rigida [stam sn fq] [pist sn fq] (Rb); Scrophulariaceae: Agalinis tenuifolia fsp np (Rb), Mimulus ringens fp np (Cng), Verbascum thapsus fp np (Rb); Smilacaceae: Smilax tamnoides hispida fp (Rb); Tiliaceae: Tilia americana sn (Rb)

Larvae of E. americanus have been reported feeding on Adelgidae and Aphididae (Rojo et al. 2003).

Rotheray and Gilbert (1999), using larval characters, studied the phylogeny of the European Syrphidae and Eupeodes was recovered as sister group of Scaeva and Ischiodon, with Paragus as sister group of all of them. Mengual et al. (2008), using molecualr characters, recovered Eupeodes (Metasyrphus) and Eupeodes (Macrosyrphus) together, being the sister group of a large clade formed by Lapposyrphus, Dioprosopa, Ischiodon and Scaeva.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Specimens with Barcodes: 15
Species With Barcodes: 1